Eduventures, Inc. is a privately held research and consulting firm that provides data, analysis and consulting to institutions of higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 and the higher education community. Founded in 1993, it has a sole focus on higher education and as of November 2009 works with over 300 colleges and universities across the United States.

In addition to traditional consulting through Eduventures Consulting Services, Eduventures offers Learning Collaborative programs – shared-cost research programs that conduct strategic and operational research for specific departments or schools within an institution of higher education. Through an annual membership, Learning Collaborative member institutions can commission consulting projects and receive access to large-scale, strategic research studies that draw upon data and practices from across the membership. In addition, members receive access to an online library of previous research, the ability to participate in webinars and meetings with peers, and the opportunity to access Eduventures’ analysts.

The six Eduventures Learning Collaboratives are:

• The Academic Leadership Learning Collaborative
• The Continuing and Professional Education Learning Collaborative
• The Development Learning Collaborative
• The Enrollment Management Learning Collaborative
• The Online Higher Education Learning Collaborative
• The Schools of Education Learning Collaborative

History

The company was founded in 1993 by Michael R. Sandler. A lifelong entrepreneur and graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...

, in 1989 Sandler had been appointed a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government

John F. Kennedy School of Government

The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...

at Harvard University, where he conducted research on the relationship between business and education. Sandler soon began issuing a yearly “Education Industry Report” that was one of the first attempts to analyze education as an industry sector. Eduventures later expanded its services to include financial research and advice to education entrepreneurs and the venture capital community . From there, Eduventures branched into new areas such as advising publishers and technology providers about the higher education and K-12 markets and began providing traditional strategic consulting to colleges and universities.

In August 2004, Eduventures founded the Continuing and Professional Education Learning Collaborative, its first Learning Collaborative program. Other Learning Collaboratives soon followed, with the Academic Leadership Learning Collaborative launched as the most recent program in March 2008.

Eduventures is financially backed by Knowledge Investment Partners LLC, a group of four investors in Cleveland and New York who specialize in the education and information service sectors, and the Invus Group LLC .

Leadership

• Tom Dretler – President & CEO
• Peter Stokes – Executive Vice President & Chief Research Officer
• Abigail Callahan – Managing Vice President, Marketing, Strategy, and Communication
• Don Fabricant – Managing Vice President, Sales and Member Services
• Alicia Martinelli – Managing Vice President, Finance & Operations
• Eric Bassett – Managing Director, Eduventures Consulting Services
• Kristen Fox – Managing Director, Academic Leadership Learning Collaborative, Development Learning Collaborative, Enrollment Management Learning Collaborative & Schools of Education Learning Collaborative
• Richard Garrett – Managing Director, Continuing and Professional Education Learning Collaborative & Online Higher Education Learning Collaborative
• Kim Reid – Program Director and Senior Analyst, Enrollment Management Learning Collaborative
• Jennifer Zaslow – Program Director and Senior Analyst, Development Learning Collaborative